Cycling magazines?
 

Is there a single cycling magazine anywhere in the world worth buying anymore? I can't remember the last time I actually bought one. Seems to me they all have the same crap in them everytime. Generally about 30 pages of ads and a few posers "trying out" (i.e. rehashing some press release) some $5,000 bike that nobody in the real world can afford. *yawn* Or maybe they've got some race result that I got from cyclingnews.com three weeks ago.

Honestly, what is the point?

Well, good or bad I still love'm, and I excpet all bike magazine donations.
My subscription to BIKE is running out, so I am bummed. I need to renew, and subscribe to MBA....nevermind. I like Velonews, I've heard so so stuff about Procycling, but have never read it. Dirt Rag is good is you like underground kind of stuff, but Dirtrag is MTB.

Adventure Cycling is the best bike mag I have ever found.

Bicycling Magazine has gotten so bad that I let my subscription lapse.

Yeah, same here. I'm waiting until my subscription runs out, and then I'm going to get VeloNews.

Adventure Cycling is great, i have yet to do a single multi-day bike tour, but i love what they put out. I too let both my Bike and Bicycling subscriptions expire this year.

It really depends what you're looking for. I like reading about competitive cycling more than about bike tech and products, so I subscribe to VeloNews. It's generally well-written and covers road AND mtb AND cyclocross. I also pick up Cycle Sport fairly frequently; it's also quite well written and I enjoy the historical features...

My main problem with VN is its incessant Lance-worship. On the other hand, I find that the Brit mags are pretty heavy on the Millar-worship [particularly Cycling Weekly], and I suspect the Aussie magazines are probably just as heavy on the O'Grady-worship.

If we HAD cycling magazines worth a dang in Canada, they'd probably be all over Roland Green.

If you are a racer, then I highly recommend three magazines:

- Pro Cycling (it's a dedicated road racing magazine; great commentary and profiles of pro Euro and North American Div 1 and Div 2 teams; great review and profiles of races)

- Cycle Sport (same as the above)

- VeloNews (covers all sorts of domestic pro and Eruo pro races; road and mountain bike)

(Sorry that I don't have much mtn bike resources to recommend, because I do 95% road and 5% dirt.)

I love biking. I am an avvid road racer. I have designed my own training and eating programs based on the training camps I've taken, the books I've read, and the experienced racers I've talked to. And I love to follow what's going on in the pro races.

I still read Bicycling Magazine, because it still has value. Mainly for the pics and specs on new bikes. It's my monthly "product brochure". It's one of the channels I have to find out about new products. Bicycling Magazine tends to focus mainly on the "generic brands." I am also into specialty brands (Italians mainly), but they don't cover much of that.

What are you interested in? The Web has a wealth of information on training, eating, routes, tours, races, etc. I can point you to some great web sites if you'd like.

- VM

Same here; save a tree - stop your subscription to Bicycling Magazine. What a waste of pulp.

Hey Veolcipedio,

Isn't Pedal Magazine based in Canada? Is it worth reading?

In the UK Cycling+ which focuses on road/touring/commuting is quite good - I've never bought an issue where I felt there wasn't a fair bit of interesting articles. On the mountain bike side, What Mountain Bike is good for reviews and seems to be increasing its article content, MBR isn't too bad and the least said about MBUK the better...

Richard

I love Bicycling magazine guys! Who could get around without Style Man?? I would be a total geek without him! Before I read his stuff, I had stickers on my bike, a few pieces of Mojo, and thought racing was for beginners!!! But now, I am super coolio. The Fitness Chick is great too! I wouldn't have known extra virgin olive oil was a good energy source without her! No really, I don't mind Bicycling. I love all the mags, good or bad, crappy writing, wrong info, biased opinions, and egotistical farts like Zap. Send me all of your unloved magazines.

I agree on ProCycling and Cycle Sport for English. Tour from Germany, and a couple of the French ones are good. The rest seem pretty much in the mold of People and Us.

But then what do you expect nowadays? Seems to be the way of almost everything. :(

Cheers...Gary

That's actually where I get all my info now anyway. Given that I do (or have done) just about every form of biking there is, I tend to read whatever I feel like reading at the time. I was just ranting about the endless repetitive content (most of which is of little interest) in most bike magazines. That's probably why I generally don't buy them.

I really like Sport diver out of Asia,
Oh wait, wrong sport...
I used to read Bicycling when it actually said something
worthwhile (when Frank Berto was there). I also
thought that Bicycle Guide was ok.
Now I read VN when I get ambitious enough to
buy a copy. Sometimes procycling, most of my
reading is done online now.
but I do miss drooling over the latest
and greatest stuff in the rags.

Marty

Richard, I am so glad you said that ! I last bought MBUK about 8 years ago at University when it was pretty good, loads of bike reviews, trail guides, news and loads of other stuff.

I bought a copy the other day and it is a total piece of cr@p !! It was all in-jokes, unfunny photo captions trying to imitate FHM, adverts, articles about trials and BMX and bl@@dy MOTORCROSS riding - in a word, a total POS !!! I've seen the ad's for What Mountain bike and I think I'll give it a go if I can find a copy.

I know this is off-topic, but I can't stand it anymore. I'll try this and see what happens.

What Mountain Bike is produced by the older staff of MBUK and is a lot more mature, it's a little heavy on reviews rather thanarticles but I find it worth buying.

Richard

I take Bicycling and Adventure Cycling. Since I am into cycling for touring I value Adventure Cycling the most. They have covered tours after I completed them. If only I had known. Advenure Cycling is great and I trust their product reviews far more than other biking mags.
As to Bicycling. I am skeptical of mags that are glossy. But I would not be without it. It does not cover Pro Cycling enough for me. I have found it helpful for training and maintenance tips.
When they have feature stories (photography) about bikes like Colnago's or Top end Treks/Specialized; enough to make an avid cyclist droul.

The number one commandment of a commercial magazine (bicycling or otherwise) is THOU SHALL NOT SPEAK AGAINST THE SPONSOR. That's why I strongly prefer bicycle zines. Leapfrog, edited by Scott Spitz (xpeoplespoetx@hotmail.com) is a good read. The Derailleur, a Chicago-area zine, is worth a read. And the newsletter of your local bicycle advocacy group can be worth checking into.

Mother Jones is one of those rare magazines that has a lot of advertising in it from national sponsors and yet still manages to actually have a lot of substance and frankness in its articles. The bicycle magazine industry, however, does not have an equivalent of Mother Jones.